The official world record in the 3000-meter steeplechase for men is held by Saif Saaeed Shaheen of Qatar (formerly Stephen Cherono of Kenya) at 7:53.63 and was set on September 3, 2004 during the Memorial van Damme in Brussels. On August 16, 2002 Brahim Boulami of Morocco ran 7:53.17 but this has not been ratified by the IAAF, as Boulami was banned for two years in 2003 after testing positive for EPO.

The first person to run the steeplechase in under eight minutes was Moses Kiptanui of Kenya, who ran it in 7:59.18 on August 16, 1995 in Zürich, Switzerland.

The official world record in the 3000 m steeplechase for women is held by Gulnara Galkina-Samitova of Russia at 8:58.81 and was set at the 2008 Olympics. She is the only woman to have run it under nine minutes.

Mark Rowland coach of the Oregon Track Club holds the British record of 8.07.96. This won him the Bronze at the 1988 Olympics.

Steeplechase (athletics)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The steeplechase is an obstacle race in athletics, which derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing.

Rules

According to IAAF rules, barrier height is 914 mm (36 in) for men and 762 mm (30 in) for women. Unlike those used in hurdling, steeplechase barriers do not fall over if hit; some runners actually step on top of them. Four barriers are spaced around the track on level ground, and a fifth barrier at the top of the second turn (fourth barrier in a complete lap from the finish line) is the water jump, which consists of a barrier followed by a pit of water which is 3.66 m (12 ft) long and slopes upward from 700 mm (27.6 in) deep at the barrier end to even with the surface of the track. This slope rewards runners with more jumping ability, because a longer jump results in a shallower landing in the water.

The event originated in the British Isles. Runners raced from one town's steeple to the next. The steeples were used as markers due to their visibility over long distances. Along the way runners inevitably had to jump streams and low stone walls separating estates. The modern athletics event originates from a two-mile cross country steeplechase that formed part of the Oxford University sports (in which many of the modern athletics events were founded) in 1860. It was replaced in 1865 by an event over barriers on a flat field, which became the modern steeplechase. It has been an Olympic event since the inception of the modernOlympics, though with varying lengths. Since the 1968 Summer Olympics the steeplechase in the Olympics has been dominated by Kenyan athletes, including a clean sweep of the medals at the 2004 Games.

The steeplechase for women (3,000 metres long, but with lower barriers than for the men) made its first major championship appearance at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki. In 2008, Women's 3,000 meters steeplechase appeared for the first time on the Olympic tracks in Beijing (see Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 3000 metre steeplechase).